CIPA fellows are expected to complete an internship related to their respective area of Concentration during the summer between their first and second years of graduate study. This internship represents an opportunity for fellows to apply skills obtained in the classroom to the complexities of practice, and to develop a base of professional contacts.
Placement
Recent CIPA fellows have been placed in internships throughout the world in a diverse range of organizations. Historically, many CIPA students have received multiple internship offers relevant to their course of study.
Funding Opportunities
For students who participate in unpaid internships, CIPA facilitates information sessions on special funding opportunities such as the travel abroad grants available through the Cornell Einaudi Center for International Studies. In addition, CIPA has a limited number of stipends available that offer financial assistance to fellows with unpaid internships of particular merit.
Examples of Past Summer Internships
Felix Cruz, Finance and Fiscal Policy Concentration
Travis Durfee, Government, Politics and Policy Studies Concentration
Donovan Fox, Science and Technology Policy Concentration
Carrie George, International Development Concentration
Aaron Levy, Environmental Policy Concentration
Alexandra Lewin, International Development Concentration
Scott Sanders, International Development Concentration
Catherine Vu, Social Policy Concentration
Deloitte & Touche
Felix Cruz was the first CIPA fellow to participate in a Deloitte & Touche summer internship program designed specifically for CIPA students. CIPA alumnus Doug Tyler, M.P.A. 1998, was instrumental in the creation of this internship in the Credits and Incentives Department of the Deloitte Tax Division. The position provides first hand interaction with the corporate side of economic development.
New York State Senate
Travis Durfee spent the 2005-06 academic year working as a New York State Senate Fellow in Albany. The NY State Fellowship is a paid program for current students and recent graduates and offers hands-on policymaking experience. Durfee was placed on the Senate Education Committee, under the chairmanship of Senator Stephen Saland (R-41st District, Poughkeepsie). Other student interested in domestic policy, federalism, or state government, can find further information on this fellowship option at www.senate.state.ny.us/StudentPrograms.nsf.
U.S. Department of State
During the summer of 2005, Donovan Fox completed an internship with the Bureau of Public Affairs at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. The Bureau is responsible for conducting daily State Department press briefings with the foreign and domestic press, and for maintaining the Department’s web sites. Fox worked with the Office of the Executive, which handles all of the operational functions of the Bureau. His responsibilities included development work on a joint fellowship program with prestigious universities in the U.S., and the creation of an informational CD-ROM for the Department.
Carrie George and Scott Sanders, both M.P.A. 2006
Innovest Strategic Value Advisors
Carrie George and Scott Sanders worked with Tom O’Toole, the CIPA Assistant Director for Professional Development, to set up a long-distance internship with the NY City office of Innovest Strategic Value Advisors, a socially and environmentally responsible investment firm. The internship ran from February through August of 2005. Initially, they were assigned to work with senior analysts based in NYC, Paris, and London, and received their assignments through conference calls. Their research supported the analyst in their writing of industry trend reports. Several times a month they traveled to NYC to do work on-site. Their research topics covered a range of subjects including environmental improvements in the aerospace and heating, ventilation and air conditioning industries, as well as European waste regulations. Later they did research that went directly to the final drafts of large, industry-wide reports. Carrie George is now employed by Innovest full-time as a research analyst.
Environmental Protection Agency
Aaron Levy spent the summer of 2005 as an intern in the Climate Change Division of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). He worked on a presidential initiative called, “The Methane to Markets Partnership,” an international public/private initiative to advance the capture and use of methane as a clean energy source from landfills, natural gas pipelines, coal mines, and agricultural waste. He assisted in the preparation for meetings and conferences with international and domestic stakeholders, and worked on the design and content of a new web site. Levy was chosen as a 2006 Presidential Management Fellow Finalist, and received a full-time job offer from the EPA as an environmental protection specialist in the Stratospheric Protection Division.
Office of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY)
Alex Lewin spent the summer and fall of 2004 as an Agriculture Fellow in the Office of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY). During fall semester, she also took classes at the Cornell in Washington Center. The position in Senator Clinton’s office required knowledge of both agriculture and public policy. With an undergraduate degree from Cornell in International Agriculture and Rural Development, and Natural Resources, and with her growing knowledge of policy as a CIPA Fellow, Lewin was a good fit for the job. Her position brought her into contact with lobbyists, policy makers and staffers from a multitude of sectors. She prepared memos, reports and talking points for the Senator.
Cornell Urban Scholars Program, NYC
During the summer of 2004, Catherine Vu served as a Graduate Research Fellow with the Cornell Urban Scholars Program. An eight-week, self-directed program, it provides graduate students with a fellowship to pursue research in child, family, and community-development policy-making. The program’s objective is to enhance the quality of life for marginalized residents living in the nation’s largest city. Cathy Vu analyzed the housing conditions of working-class, minority families living in inadequate and overcrowded housing. Working with the Southside Community Mission, a small community based organization in Brooklyn, she conducted a case study to assess the relationship between crowded, dilapidated housing and the well-being of children that live in these conditions.
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